Mining News Deserts: Impact of Local Newspaper's Closure on Political Participation and Engagement in Rural Australian Town of Lightning Ridge

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Local Newspaper's Closure on Political Participation and Engagement in Rural Australian Town of Lightning Ridge</title> <meta name="description" content="Mining News Deserts: Impact of Local Newspaper's Closure on Political Participation and Engagement in Rural Australian Town of Lightning Ridge"> <meta name="keywords" content="public sphere, political participation, local news, democratic deficit"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut icon"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/bootstrap-4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/plugins/fontawesome/css/all.min.css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="https://cdn.waset.org/static/css/site.css?v=150220211555" rel="stylesheet"> </head> <body> <header> <div class="container"> <nav class="navbar 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class="card-body"><strong>Paper Count:</strong> 87359</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card publication-listing mt-3 mb-3"> <h5 class="card-header" style="font-size:.9rem">Mining News Deserts: Impact of Local Newspaper's Closure on Political Participation and Engagement in Rural Australian Town of Lightning Ridge</h5> <div class="card-body"> <p class="card-text"><strong>Authors:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=Marco%20Magasic">Marco Magasic</a> </p> <p class="card-text"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> This article examines how a local newspaper’s closure impacts the way everyday people in a rural Australian town are informed about and engage with political affairs. It draws on a two-month focused ethnographic study in the outback town of Lighting Ridge, New South Wales and explores people’s media-related practices following the closure of the towns’ only newspaper, The Ridge News, in 2015. While social media is considered to have partly filled the news void, there is an increasingly fragmented and less vibrant local public sphere that has led to growing complacency among individuals about political affairs. Local residents highlight a dearth of reliable, credible information and lament the loss of the newspaper and its role in community advocacy and fostering people’s engagement with political institutions, especially local government. <iframe src="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/138127.pdf" style="width:100%; height:400px;" frameborder="0"></iframe> <p class="card-text"><strong>Keywords:</strong> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=public%20sphere" title="public sphere">public sphere</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=political%20participation" title=" political participation"> political participation</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=local%20news" title=" local news"> local news</a>, <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/search?q=democratic%20deficit" title=" democratic deficit"> democratic deficit</a> </p> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/138127/mining-news-deserts-impact-of-local-newspapers-closure-on-political-participation-and-engagement-in-rural-australian-town-of-lightning-ridge" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">Procedia</a> <a href="https://publications.waset.org/abstracts/138127.pdf" target="_blank" class="btn btn-primary btn-sm">PDF</a> <span class="bg-info text-light px-1 py-1 float-right rounded"> Downloads <span class="badge badge-light">155</span> </span> </div> </div> </div> </main> <footer> <div id="infolinks" class="pt-3 pb-2"> <div class="container"> <div style="background-color:#f5f5f5;" class="p-3"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-2"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> About <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support">About Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://waset.org/page/support#legal-information">Legal</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://publications.waset.org/static/files/WASET-16th-foundational-anniversary.pdf">WASET celebrates its 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Mining News Deserts: Impact of Local Newspaper's Closure on Political Participation and Engagement in Rural Australian Town of Lightning Ridge